Oxygen apparatus



Mar. 13, 1923. 1,448,590 w. GENSECKE OXYGEN APPARATUS Filed Dec 4, 1922 WM. bmwi altitude should Patented Mar. 13,

um'rsn sfrn TES P A TENT OFFICE.

Application Med December 4, 1888. Serial No. 604,938.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, Wmannu Gruesome, a citizen of the German Republic, and residing at Homburg vor der Hohe, Homburgerstr. 87, Germany, have invented certain new and useful lmrlvlrovements in Oxygen Apparatus, of whic the following is a spelelilfication; I is invention re. ates to'ano 'ap aratus for facilitating breathing f o di'ew ol air-craft such as aeroplanes, diri 'ble and non-dirigible balloons, and it can beemployed whenever more and more oxygen is to be supplied as the' altitude increases."*--

The oxygen destined for brcathingpurposes is produced in a known manner by evaporating liquid 0 gen stored and conveyed in a Dewar flas whose contents are isolated to prevent the penetration'ofheat. The evaporation is brought about by? forcing by pressure produced in the Dewar vessel the required quantities oflsiuid oxyagen through a pipe, whose-end-is merge in thejiquid, into an eva' oratin vessel eated by the atmosphere, w erein t liquid oxygen is evaporated.

The principal problem to be solved in apparatus of the bud is that the smallest possible quantity of. oxygen shall be discharged when the ap paratils l's at ground level and until a certain altitude is reached, or at any rate the oxygen given'ofi shbul d notbe more thali:e the amountbvlvhich is-legtonitgiint (if its in eto vi can ute y perfect heat insulating Furthermore the quantity of oxygen given of at a certain ways be the same, and it should increase as the altitude increases.

In accordance with the invention this is accomplished by automatically producing at a certain altitude a difierence of pressure between the space in the interior'of the De- War vessel and the chambers connected therewith on the one-hand, andthe breathing pipe on the other hand, this difierence of pressure increasingautomatically as the altitude to whic'hthe apparatus is raised is increased. The discharge of the oxygen into the breathing pipe takes place through.

a nozzle.

The invention is illustrated in the drawing in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the entire apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a section through a valve chamher and the automatic valve controller,

Fig. 3 is a graphical representation of atmospheric pressures and the pressures in the flask and Fig.4 illustrates the quantities of oxygen discharged at various altitudes.

In Fig. 1 a vessel a containing liquid oxygen and isolated against heat from without is shown. To evaporate the oxygen it is forced by pressure through the partly submerged pipe b into the evaporating vessel 0 where itis evaporated and thereupon passes throu h the nozzle d into the breathing n. e greater the, difi'erence between t e pressures in the flask and the atmosphere, the greater thequan-tim of the oxy en discharied through a w'- The evice e attac ed tovthe top ofthevessel is themost important art of the invention inasmuch as it automatically produces the nired difference of pressure after acertaln altitude is reached and alters this pressure difierence as the altitude changes.

The operation of the device will be .explained more fully with reference to Fig. 2. oined to the Dewar vessel by a gastl ht screw connection vis a hollow cylindrical chamber f which communicates by openings h with the interior of the Dewar vessel. The chamber 7 may be-closed or opened to the atmosphere by means of a conical valve is. The valve is is controlled by one or more diaphragms located in the interior of the chamber'f. These diaphragms consist of corrugated metalplates and are the walls of boxes similar to the capsules which are em loyed in aneroid barometer-s. e intenor of the catpsules is entirely closed to j referably evacuated, al- (i pressure may exist in the When the oxygen vessel is at ground level I the conical valve In is adjusted so as to be .0 n, so that the the atmosphere. When the vessel is elevated to hi her altitudes the diaphragms in the chem r f distend axially on account of the reduced air pressure. At a certain predetermined height the axial expansion of the capsules 2' is such that the valve is isclosed, so that the pressure in the interior of the vessel a rises above that of the atmosphere due to the natural evaporation of the lquid oxygen. As the altitude increases the prespressure in the interior of t e oxygen vessel is equal to the pressure of sure produced in the interior of the vessel by the actuation of the valve k through the action of the diaphragms'will remain approximately constant. But as the pressure of the external atmosphere drops as the altitude increases, the pressure difference between the internal and external spaces will continually increase, whereby the (it'- sired increase of the quantity of oxy en discharged through the nozzle d is ofitained. In order to also turn to account the small uantit of oxygen that is continually disc arged by the unavoidable evaporatlon in the interior of the Dewar vessel, the pipe m may be connected with the breathing or receiving pipe n. L

The operation of the device is graphically represented in Figs. 3 and 4. In Fig. 3 the atmospheric pressure is represented as a function of the altitude. The ressure in the flask, which remains practical y the same from a certain altitude, is shownat A, and the pressure diiference obtained at different altitudes is represented by the hatched surface. Fig. 4 indicates the quantities of oxygen discharged. Up to the point B only the small amount of gas resulting from unavoidable evaporation is dischar ed. From B on this uantity increases under the infiuence of t e increasing pressure difierence untilthe maximum shown at C is reached.

I claim:

1. A paratus for controlling the gasifica tion-o liquid oxygen under varying atmospheric ressure comprising a container for the liquid oxygen, an orifice in the container communicating with the atmosphere, a valve in said orifice, said valve being open under normal atmospheric pressure, and means ten to close said valve under decreasing EUROS; eric pressu re.

2. pparatus for controlling the gasification of liquid oxygen under varying atmospheric pressure comprising a heat insulated container for the liquid oxygen, an orifice in the container communicating with the atmosphere, a valve in said orifice, and a drum for controlling said valve.

3. Apparatus for controlling the gasification of liquid oxygen under varying atmospheric pressure comprisin a heat insulated container for the liquid oxygen, a chamber having an outlet into the atmosphere, communicating means between the chamber and the container, a valve in said outlet, a plurality of capsules with distendable and contractible dlaphragms for con trolling said valve, whereby a substantially constant ressure is maintained in he container an the chamber, and an exit conduit for the oxygen in connection with the container.

4. Apparatus for controlling the gasification of liquid oxygen under varying atmos heric pressure comprising a heat insulate container for the liquid oxygen, a chamber havin an outlet into the atmosphere, communicating means between the chamber and the container, :1. valve in said outlet, a plurality of capsules with distendahle and contractible dia hragms for controlling said valve, where y a substantially constant pressure is maintained in the cou-. tainer and the chamber, an exit conduit for the oxygen in connection with the container, and communicating means between said chamber-outlet and said exit conduit.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in. presence of two witnesses.

WILHELM GENSECKE.

Witnesses:

C. C. L. B. WYLES, P. A. WILLIAMS 

